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A full weekend of SUP racing, demos, stand up paddle clinics, and more on California’s beautiful Morro Bay and surrounding ocean. Located halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, the central coast is quickly being discovered as having some the best SUP paddling on the West coast. Morro Bay is a large inland, protected estuary teeming with wildlife of all sorts, and the Pacific just out of the harbor boasts great surf year round.

The province of CamSur in the Philippines is the vacation destination of
choice for three reasons: the black and white sandy beaches, the frequent flyer miles
I have accumulated, and the upcoming Stand Up Paddle World Series, not
necessarily in that order. Hosting the SUP World Series is simple endeavor and
winning the bid among a long list of other beachy, utopian hot spots across the
world is anther golden opportunity for this once unheard of island peninsula to
reinforce its reputation globally as a top tourist destination. Already regarded as the
progenitor of wakeboarding, CamSur has catapulted into the limelight as the
hotspot for water sports and extreme sporting events. Hosting the SUP event is yet
another splash of jet fuel on Governor Luis Raymond Villafuerteâ€™s already well
stoked vision of his province growing even more destination noteworthy. â€œMy vision
is to make the Phillippines the stand up paddleboard capital of the world. We have
7.107 islands, beautiful lakes, and rivers and all we have to do is just host world
class events such as this to make the world know that the best place to paddleboard
is in the Phillippines.â€
Villafuerte (fondly referred to as L-Ray) is not a novice to the creative
thinking and heart-felt investment that goes into fulfilling such a dream. CamSur is
already home to the world renowned CamSur Watersports Complex which has
become the premiere destination for watersports as well as international sporting
events in Asia. A great wakeboarder himself, Gov L-Rayâ€™s commitment
to â€œpromoting this new sport like we developed and promoted wakeboardingâ€ is
just one more example of his deep appreciation of both the land and its economy.
Under his tutelage CamSur has already hosted the Wind or No Wind Board Jam kite
boarding championship, the â€™09-â€™11 Cobra Philippines Ironman triathlon, the 2008
WWA Wake Park World Championship, the Ultimate Wake Championship last year,
and the WWA Wakeboard World Series. This man knows what he is doing.
When I am not recumbent in a lounge chair with turquoise sea-water lapping at
my toes, sipping a San Miguel and sucking down fried squid balls, I will definitely
be among the hundreds of sports enthusiasts lining the beach during this five-day
prime World Series event. Between April 19 and 23rd the best Stand Up Paddle
racers in the world will be battling it for those vital World Series points at the
first ever major World Championship SUP ever to take place in Asia. The $20,000
prize money is clearly an incentive, but I can imagine competing among the likes of
these top international stand up paddlers is an equally exciting. Zane Scwheitzer
of Hawaii (finalist in the Sunset Beach World Tour 2011), Kai Lenny (final event
winner in the 2011 Stand Up World Tour), and Australian Travis Grant (winner of
the 2012 World Stand Up Championship in Peru) are just a few SUP iconic names
who will be making a splash during this spectacular event. I might just have to
venture out of that lounge chair and into the pro shop. There are lots of ways to for
vacationers to get their feet wet in CamSur!

Baby Beach in Dana Point has never looked more colorful.
Saturday was the Mickey Munoz Mongoose Cup SUP Event but to the untrained
eye, it looked more like a rainbow of pick up sticks flung upon the harbor, with
people standing upon them and SUP paddles in their hands. Stand up paddlers from all
walks of life flocked to the beach to showcase their finesse and learn a few SUP tips from
the pros. It was the fun stand up paddle that kicked off the this family-friendly event and I
didnâ€™t need more than a few minutes watching before I knew I absolutely had to try
this new sport that is apparently all the rage. Little kids packed into bright orange
life jackets, parents in board shorts and Ray Bans, a few dogs perched at the nose of
the board as they glided around the bay; is there a better way to spend a sunny
Saturday?
First I joined a SUP clinic to get acquainted with paddle mechanics and give me a
fighting chance to preserve my self-respect and not embarrass myself too much.
Ocean safety was first and foremost. Before anyone was allowed to get his feet wet,
we had to know how to be safe. â€œYou need to know about the boats, that you should
wear a personal flotation device, and courtesy. Youâ€™re just like a boat out there,
practically,â€ said event coordinator Nyle Schafhauser. With 50 â€œsafety paddlerâ€
experts circulating throughout the booths and clinics, there was no escaping
learning the prerequisites that allowed entry into the thrilling world of stand up
paddling. Imagining myself on the open seas, SUP paddling along breaching whales and
flipping dolphins, I held position in the sand and practiced driving the paddle with
my top hand while generating force through the torso for a powerful stroke as
instructed. It was definitely different from the raking the yard maneuver and called
new muscles to attention. Finally the magic moment was upon us and the new fleet
of stand up paddlers were released to try out the new skill. Gingerly I stepped onto
my board and felt my legs find their balance upon the water. The sun sparkled upon
the water as my board through the gentle ripples. What a glorious feeling!
Back on shore I meandered along the various booths selling the latest
products and tempting me to consider joining the ranks of the serious paddlers.
Rationalizing that this event also served as a fundraiser to benefit the Doheny
Longboard Surfing Association and the Terry Martin Medical Fund, I collected
pamphlets and visited a few more clinics. Along the way I chatted with seasoned
surfer Kat Brickner, 20, who had just participated in an SUP yoga clinic where she
used the board as a mat on the water while balancing in downward dog, warrior
pose, and planks. â€œIt was awesome,â€ she said after the first lesson. It was a lot
harder that I expected. Definitely different than being on the landâ€. Her surfing
partner, Chris Thomas was equally impressed. â€œYou kind of combine your surfing
skills and balancing the board with yoga, so itâ€™s really good cross-training, When you
get too hot, you put your hands in the water and splash your face.â€ I ended the day
in with a satisfying Namaste and a vow to try this sport again.

Beginning on February 7th and running through the 9th, the India Surf Festival is a meditative and exciting event in Orissa at the Rangers Adventure Foundation on Puri-Konark Marine Drive in Puri, India. Rooted in an unbridled enthusiasm for surfing and SUP paddling, the India Surf Festival is an attempt to take the beauty and inspiration of riding waves and translate it into a context of meditation, yoga techniques, and the magic and mysticism of the gorgeous beaches of India. Surfers and SUP paddlers from around the world will gather to embrace the sunâ€™s healing rays and their own well being through a contemplative, unifying and satisfying experience that will connect participants with their own talents and surfing and sup surfing skills while also providing a uniquely spiritual and meditative connection with the earth and water around us. This time of year the water and weather are of a moderate to warm temperature.

Art, Music, Film, Dance. Here are some highlights from the festival …
OCEAN MONK
The festival will screen, Ocean Monk, a film archiving the inner and outer search of a group of monks who make their home in New York City.

NOVA COLLECTIVE ART SPACE
NOVA COLLECTIVE is an eclectic group of four comprising of Sachin Shetty, Archan Nair, Kaustubh Kamat and Harshvardhan Kadam – all distinctive and independent designers and musicians.

There is a wide range of hotels and guest houses in the towns of Konark and PuriI;for virtually any budget, and there is some (limited) facilities for surfers who wish to camp on Surfers Island. If you are planning on flying in internationally, your best bet is in Kolkatta, which is about three hundred seventy five kilometers away. The nearest national airport is in Bhubaneswar, seventy kilometers from the festival. The railway station may be the most convenient way for more local surfers, being only about fifteen kilometers away.

The 16th annual â€œKailua Bay Menâ€™s Iron Challengeâ€ was held atÂ Kailua Canoe Club & Hawthorne Pacific on
Saturday August 27, 2011. The challenge was held at the famous Kailua Beach Park withÂ a 13.5 mile course for the Open Menâ€™s Division alongÂ with a 9.5 mile course for the 18 & under, Novice, 40+, 50+ 55+55+ Mixed, 60+ & 65+ Age Divisions.Â The annual event was a fund raiserÂ for Kailua Canoe Club.